Xifengite
| Xifengite | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Category | Native element minerals |
| Formula (repeating unit) | Fe5Si3 |
| Strunz classification | 01.BB.40 |
| Crystal symmetry |
Hexagonal dihexagonal dipyramidal H-M symbol: (6/m 2/m 2/m) Space group: P 63/mcm |
| Unit cell | a = 6.759(5) Å, c = 4.720(5) Å; Z=2 |
| Identification | |
| Color | Gray, steel-black |
| Crystal habit | As inclusions |
| Crystal system | Hexagonal |
| Mohs scale hardness | 5 |
| Luster | Metallic |
| Streak | Black |
| Diaphaneity | Opaque |
| References | [1][2] |
Xifengite (Fe5Si3) is a rare metallic iron silicide mineral. The crystal system of xifengite is hexagonal. It has a specific gravity of 6.45 and a Mohs hardness of 5.5. It occurs as steel gray inclusions within other meteorite derived nickel iron mineral phases.
It was first described in 1984 and named for the eastern passageway, Xifengkou, of the Great Wall of China. The type locality is the Yanshan meteorite of the Hebei Province, China. It has also been reported from dredgings along the East Pacific Rise.
See also
References
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 16, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.